Culture

Adam Levine's Alleged Mistress Claims To "Feel Exploited" But The Only Victims In This Situation Are Behati Prinsloo And Their Kids

Maroon 5 frontrunner Adam Levine has been accused of cheating on his wife with an influencer named Sumner Stroh, who confessed on TikTok that they were having a year-long affair. The internet can talk of nothing else, and Adam Levine has finally responded.

By Gina Florio3 min read
adam levine mistress
Getty/Instagram

Adam Levine has been married to Namibian model Behati Prinsloo since 2014. They share two children together and Behati, 34, is pregnant with their third baby. Only four days ago, she shared photos of her baby bump. However, while it may seem like Adam and Behati are living in a paradise, he was blatantly accused of cheating on her with a much younger woman.

Sumner Stroh Claims She Had a Year-Long Affair With Adam Levine

On Monday, Sumner Stroh, an Instagram model and TikToker, shared a 90-second TikTok in which she came clean about an affair she was allegedly having with Adam. "I was young, I was naive," she said in the video, claiming that she and Adam were romantically involved for a whole year. However, they had broken things off since—until Adam came back into her life months later in a very strange way.

Sumner shared a couple screenshots of her DMs with Adam on Instagram. The first few messages she shared showed Adam saying things like, "It is truly unreal how f*cking hot you are. Like it blows my mind." He also wrote, "You are 50 times hotter in person." Sumner said she stopped talking to him for "a period of months," but he suddenly messaged her again with a strange request.

"Ok serious question," he wrote. "I'm having another baby and if its w [sic] boy I really wanna name it Sumner. You ok with that? DEAD serious."

In disbelief, Sumner said in the video, "I'm in hell. I have to be in hell at this point." She also said she felt like she was taken advantage of. "I feel exploited," she claimed. "I was definitely easily manipulated."

Sumner says the only reason she is coming forward now with the story is because she wanted to get in front of the tabloids. Apparently, she sent the screenshots of the messages to some friends and one of them attempted to sell the images to the press.

In the video, she made herself out to be the victim who was exploited for Adam's gain. Many people in the comment section weren't buying it, though.

The Only Victims in This Situation Are Behati and Her Children

Sumner posted another TikTok insisting that she wasn't trying to make herself out to be the victim. However, in the same breath she said once again that she was taken advantage of by Adam.

"Hindsight is 20/20. I initially wanted to go in and talk about how remorseful I feel and how disgusted I am of myself," she said. Sumner said Adam told her that his marriage to Behati was over and they were essentially broken up. However, the two were still publicly attending events and there was no sign of them getting divorced. But Sumner claims that she was new to LA, so she just thought that a celebrity of Adam's caliber was keeping his supposed divorce quiet in order to stay out of the tabloids.

"I feel exploited because he knew I believed everything that he said because of my vulnerable position of being new to LA," she said. "Also he was DMing me straight from his verified Instagram account," which Sumner called "a manipulation tactic."

She said more than once that she was new to LA and that she was naive and exploited by Adam. Many of the comments refused to accept the narrative that being new to LA made her vulnerable to be "exploited" by celebrities such as Adam.

Our society is obsessed with victimhood. There is constantly a game going on of who can rack up the most oppression points, whether it's due to skin color, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, life experience, ability, etc. We've turned our society so upside down to the point where we prop up criminals like Jussie Smollett and treat the perpetrator as if they're the victim. This leaves a whole younger generation of people thinking that they're the victim in a situation even though they are in fact the ones who are causing the problem.

Granted, Sumner did clearly say in her latest TikTok that she doesn't see herself as the victim, but she did make it clear that she feels she was exploited by a powerful, well-known celebrity. This lack of personal responsibility is perfectly indicative of a generation that generally doesn't know how to admit when they've done something wrong.

Being new to LA is no excuse to get involved with a married man, regardless of how much he insists his marriage is over. Sumner is 23 years old, so she was assumedly 22 or even 21 when they began their affair. This is an age where you have full comprehension of the decisions you make, including and especially having a year-long affair with a married man.

It would be a different situation entirely if Sumner came forward out of remorse and apologized to Behati and her family. But Sumner decided to tell her story only because she didn't want the tabloids to beat her to the punch. There is redemption for everyone because everyone makes dumb decisions and acts in regretful ways in their past, but the energy here isn't "I'm incredibly sorry and I did something wrong," but rather "I was exploited because I was new to LA."

The only victims in this situation are Behati and her children, and we have to stop feeding into this false narrative that people who willingly engage in an extramarital affair are "exploited" in some way.

Adam Levine Tried to Deny the Affair

Adam Levine has come forward to deny these allegations and insist that he only flirted with Sumner via DM, but nobody is buying it. He posted a message on his Instagram story on Tuesday saying that the affair never actually happened.

"A lot is being said about me right now and i want to clear the air," he wrote. "I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner."

"I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life," he continued. "In certain instances it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family."

"My wife and family are all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get thorough it. And we will get through it together."

However, when Sumner shared the screenshots of their messages, he wrote to her, "You are 50 times hotter in person... and so am I." This is clearly an admission of seeing each other in person. Adam can try to deny it all he wants, but it's pretty hard to believe him at this point.